Melanoma is a malignant tumor of melanocytes, and can originate in any part of the body that contains melanocytes. There are 160,000 new cases diagnosed each year, and about 48,000 melanoma related deaths reported each year. Melanoma is the most incurable cancer once the cancer cells have metastasize to distant part of the body. Therefore, metastatic melanomas have to be aggressively treated with current and newer therapies.
A good number of mutations have been found in melanoma. For examples, mutations in BRAF and NRAS genes have found in melanomas, and these mutations have been known to activate downstream MEK-ERK oncogenic signal transduction pathway, or MAPK pathway. The MAPK pathway is an important signaling cascade driving cell proliferation, differentiation, and survival and could have an important role in the pathogenesis of melanoma. An improved understanding of the role of genetic mutations in melanoma could result in advancements in treatments of melanoma and cancers, and a targeted therapy directed towards the specific mutations and/or MAPK pathway signaling could provide an effective treatment against tumor growth for patients.